‘We were both crying’: Sundowns fan who saved Esperance supporter doesn’t think he’s a hero

Siboniso Masango does not think he is a hero for saving a desperate Esperance de Tunis supporter who was clinging to a railing for his life at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday.

There was a beautiful silver lining to some ugly scenes as supporters clashed violently after the match in which Peter Shalulile's 65th-minute strike secured Downs a 1-0 victory in the first leg of their Caf Champions League quarterfinal.

Sundowns supporters and media who witnessed the events accused Esperance supporters of breaking down barriers and initiating violence by throwing missiles, though official blame has not been apportioned.

A video has gone viral of, among the chaos in the top stand at Loftus, a Downs supporter rushing to the aid of an Esperance fan who had fallen off the corner of the east stand and was clinging to a railing on the north stand at Loftus, and helping him to safety.

That Brazilians fan was Masango, a 28-year-old sports management graduate from Mamelodi, Pretoria, who, when contacted by TimesLIVE on Wednesday, was about to take part in his third radio interview as his phone rang off the hook.

The two supporters both shed tears after the dramatic rescue, said the humble young man after being hailed as a hero despite his protestations.

Masango said the Esperance supporter gave his name as “Christian”, and said he had travelled to South Africa for the game and was flying home to Tunisia on Wednesday evening.

He said the Tunisian fell from one stand and, after shimmying across, clutched at the railing of the other.

“As the Esperance fans were running away there was a mini-stampede among themselves. Amid that the guy fell over, or got pushed over somehow.

“That’s where we saw him hanging.”

Masango acted on instinct, but initially the Tunisian was afraid of his intentions.

“I ran over, immediately tried to help the guy. He initially actually thought I wasn’t there to help, he thought I was there to push him off.

“As I grabbed his forearm he started pleading with me, saying, ‘Please don’t do it, I have three kids.’

“He kept saying that and I had to reassure him that, ‘No, I’m not going to let you go, I’m here to help you.’”

It took some effort to lift a fairly weighty man from danger, who, by the video evidence, could not have done it himself and would have plunged to serious injury or worse if not helped.

“He wasn’t [going to make it himself],” Masango said. “That’s why I had to help him. Because he was losing his grip on the railing.

“I grabbed his forearm to try to steady his grip. I told him: ‘I’m going to pull on your backpack. As I pull, try to lift your knees up. Let’s try get your legs as close as possible to the top and you can pull yourself over.’

“We tried that three or four times and eventually he managed to get his legs up.”

On what was going through his mind, Masango said: “Adrenaline took over. I wasn’t even thinking he was going to fall. I don’t know how I lifted him.

“I just thought, ‘You are not going to fall, this cannot happen.’”

Masango said the drop was high and if the Tunisian fell, “if he hadn’t died he would have been paralysed”.

“We were on the highest stand. I don’t know the height — maybe 30m up.”

On being called a hero, Masango said: “I heard that. I was just doing what anybody would do if they saw someone about to lose their life. I don’t think that was a heroic thing. If someone’s about to lose their life I don’t think we should all just look at them.”

Masango said ‘Christian’ could not stop thanking him.

“He and I had a moment afterwards. Immediately he started crying on my shoulder, I started crying back.

“He was just so, so grateful.”

The Tunisian took Masango’s contact details and said he “will message me when he gets back to Tunisia”.

The second leg of the quarterfinal is in Rades, outside Tunis in Tunisia, on Tuesday.